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The Northwest Passage is a sea route connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary )〕〔〔 The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages. The Parliament of Canada renamed these waterways the "Canadian Northwest Passage" in motion M-387 passed unanimously 2 December 2009.〔(Passage of motion M-387 on 2 Dec 2009 – vote )〕〔(Order paper – Private Members' Business, 17 Nov 2009, see motion M-387 )〕 Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was first navigated by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen with a small expedition in 1903–1906. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year. Changes in the pack ice (Arctic shrinkage) has rendered the waterways more navigable.〔〔〔 The contested sovereignty claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region: the Canadian government considers the Northwestern Passages part of Canadian Internal Waters,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=TP 14202 E Interpretation )〕 but the United States and various European countries maintain they are an international strait and transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage. If, as has been claimed, parts of the eastern end of the Passage are barely deep,〔 〕 the route's viability as a Euro-Asian shipping route is reduced. ==Overview== Before the Little Ice Age, Norwegian Vikings sailed as far north and west as Ellesmere Island, Skraeling Island and Ruin Island for hunting expeditions and trading with the Inuit and people of the Dorset culture who already inhabited the region.〔''Inuit-Norse contact in the Smith Sound region''/Schledermann, P. McCullough, K.M.〕 Between the end of the 15th century and the 20th century, colonial powers from Europe dispatched explorers in an attempt to discover a commercial sea route north and west around North America. The Northwest Passage represented a new route to the established trading nations of Asia. England called the hypothetical northern route the "Northwest Passage". The desire to establish such a route motivated much of the European exploration of both coasts of North America. When it became apparent that there was no route through the heart of the continent, attention turned to the possibility of a passage through northern waters. There was a lack of scientific knowledge about conditions; for instance, some people believed that seawater was incapable of freezing. (As late as the mid-18th century, Captain James Cook had reported that Antarctic icebergs had yielded fresh water, seemingly confirming the hypothesis.) Explorers thought that an open water route close to the North Pole must exist.〔 The belief that a route lay to the far north persisted for several centuries and led to numerous expeditions into the Arctic. Many ended in disaster, including that by Sir John Franklin in 1845. In 1906, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen first successfully completed a passage from Greenland to Alaska in the sloop ''Gjøa''. Since that date, several fortified ships have made the journey. From east to west, the direction of most early exploration attempts, expeditions entered the passage from the Atlantic Ocean via the Davis Strait and through Baffin Bay. Five to seven routes have been taken through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, via the McClure Strait, Dease Strait, and the Prince of Wales Strait, but not all of them are suitable for larger ships.〔 From there ships passed through waterways through the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Bering Strait (separating Russia and Alaska), into the Pacific Ocean. In the 21st century, major changes to the ice pack due to climate change have stirred speculation that the passage may become clear enough of ice to permit safe commercial shipping for at least part of the year. On August 21, 2007, the Northwest Passage became open to ships without the need of an icebreaker. According to Nalan Koc of the Norwegian Polar Institute, this is the first time the Passage has been clear since they began keeping records in 1972.〔 The Northwest Passage opened again on August 25, 2008. Thawing ocean or melting ice simultaneously opened up the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage (and within it, the Northern Sea Route), making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Arctic ice cap, 2007 )〕 Compared to 1979, the ''Daily Mail'' published "Blocked: The Arctic ice, showing as a pink mass in the 1979 picture, links up with northern Canada and Russia."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Arctic ice cap, 1979 )〕 Awaited by shipping companies, this 'historic event' will cut thousands of miles off their routes. Warning, however, that the NASA satellite images indicated the Arctic may have entered a "death spiral" caused by climate change, Professor Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), USA, said: "The passages are open. It's a historic event. We are going to see this more and more as the years go by."〔(ptinews.com, North Pole becomes an 'island' )〕 Due to Arctic shrinkage, the Beluga group of Bremen, Germany, sent the first Western commercial vessels through the Northern Sea Route (Northeast Passage) in 2009. However, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that "ships entering the North-West passage should first report to his government." The first commercial cargo ship to have sailed through the Northwest Passage was the in August 1969. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Northwest Passage」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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